UPON OPENING, DISNEY HALL PASSES AURAL EXAMINATION.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

The Los Angeles Philharmonic inaugurated its gleaming new concert hall Thursday night with a tribute to sound, not music. The much-vaunted Walt Disney Concert Hall, with its $274 million price tag and undulating stainless-steel exterior, has long been hyped as a sonic boon, the ideal and rightful home of an orchestra that has been steadily improving technically during the dozen years Esa-Pekka Salonen has been its music director.

And so in the presence of Los Angeles' elite, a mix of political and Hollywood celebrities, the Philharmonic validated a move that is tiny in geographic terms - Disney Hall lies just across the street from the Philharmonic's old home, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion - but in every other sense is a great leap forward.

Nixing the custom of playing big pieces to mark grand occasions, the Philharmonic offered a series of mostly short works that placed increasingly larger groupings of performers, including singers, throughout the hall. That no one in the future will likely play or sing in these spaces - the window behind the highest balcony, for instance - was irrelevant. The point was to show off the hall's acoustical properties, the work of architect Frank Gehry and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota.

Jazz singer Dianne Reeves opened the concert by walking to center stage and intoning ``The Star-Spangled Banner'' a cappella. It was the moment of truth, and the relief was palpable when her voice, sounding entirely natural, carried. The instrumental equivalent came from violinist Martin Chalifour, the Philharmonic's concertmaster, playing the Preludio of Bach's Third Partita for Solo Violin from the organ loft behind the stage. His performance was serious but not fussy, his string tone present without being overwhelming.

With Charles Ives' ``Unanswered Question'' and some of Gabrielli's antiphonal music for brass came the chance to hear how multiple instruments played off each other. The result: with an encompassing clarity, brightness and warmth. These works marked Salonen's debut on the podium, but they were not interpretively distinguished performances. Nor was a reading of Mozart's brief Symphony No. 32.

But the Mozart, with a sizable number of the Philharmonic's musicians on stage, revealed the hall's true glories. Whatever else it may be used for, Disney Hall was built for this orchestra. Here the Philharmonic's strings have a depth and body rarely encountered at the Dorothy Chandler. The brasses exude not just welcome warmth, but also a previously unperceived sheen. And most impressive is how the percussion sounds. Now when a timpani is struck, for example, one hears the mallet connecting with the instrument's skin, not just the reverberation.

Unfortunately, one thing even Disney Hall cannot seem to counter is the tendency for the rest of the orchestra to drown out the woodwinds. This is a common problem, but optimists may have hoped Disney would solve it. Alas, not yet.

The evening's musical - and sonic - high point was Stravinsky's ``Rite of Spring.'' Salonen has made this piece his own over the years, and it remains an almost unparalleled orchestral showpiece. Ignoring the work's more subtle aspects, Salonen floored the pedal, so to speak, driving his musicians into the frenzy everyone hoped for. It was an exhilarating ride, even as the hall's unforgiving acoustics left certain players too exposed.

The evening did not belong to the Philharmonic alone, however. Between the Gabrielli and the Mozart, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which shares Disney Hall with the Philharmonic, made its debut appearance, its music director Grant Gershon conducting. The chorus sang Gyorgy Ligeti's luminous ``Lux Aeterna'' from the aisles, with Gershon leading from the middle of the orchestra seats. The result was mixed. The sound was clear, and the Chorale sang with impressive unity and fine dynamic control, but the voices had a cold, mechanical edge.

It's impossible to make final judgments on a just-completed hall. The Philharmonic, to say nothing of audiences, will have to learn to live in this space before it becomes a home. That will take months, perhaps even years. But if Thursday's concert revealed anything, it's that buyer's remorse is unlikely to be an issue.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

(1) Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen pushes the orchestra through works by Mozart and Stravinsky during Thursday's opening-night gala at Disney Hall.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

(2) Dianne Reeves inaugurated Disney Hall with an a capella ``Star-Spangled Banner.''